Clubs in the Eastern Region

Rutland Civil Service Sailing Club

Rutland Reservoir (East of Leicester), Rutland

The club was formed in 2003 when the CSSC Sports & Leisure, Inland Revenue Sports Association and Customs & Excise Sports Club agreed to pool their resources in the Midlands area and form a combined sailing club.

Most of our members join as compete beginners and the whole approach of the club is to provide an introduction into the many aspects of sailing. This starts with general sailing and you are very welcome to come along and crew, enjoying the lovely surroundings of Rutland Reservoir. For safety reasons you must reach a level of competence equivalent to RYA Basic Skills (keelboat) before you can take a boat out by yourself. This is achieved by building upon the initial experience of crewing, then helming under supervision until finally attending a 2 day course which brings all the practical and theory together. For those that have sailed in the past, you may helm a boat if you have Basic Skills (dinghy - the old RYA level 2), or Day Skipper. Once qualified you can then enjoy general sailing, take out the family or do a bit of racing!

Keeping with the theme of new experiences, we often travel offshore for a mixture of day cruising in small keelboats, racing on the Solent, taster sails on the Civil Service yachts based on the South and East coasts, or special high performance weekends. Nearer to home, because we are corporate members of Rutland Sailing Club (RSC), you can volunteer as crew on other member's boats and make yourself available to sail anything that's on the water. The choice is enormous.

Back to our own boats though. The intention is to establish a fleet of between 4 & 6 Squibs (currently we have 3). The Squib is a 19` keelboat fitted with a Mainsail, Jib and Spinnaker. It can comfortably take 3 adults and is ideal for both training and family outings. It is virtually impossible to capsize and is very forgiving. In addition we also sail a Soling, which is a 28` Olympic class keelboat. This can sail quite comfortably with four adults and although fast, is very stable.

Typically we sail as a club over the weekends between May and October but the boats are available at any other times to take out family and friends etc. (a small daily membership fee may be charged by RSC for family and friends). We are fortunate though in being part of the RSC. Not only is this the largest lake in Northern Europe (larger than Windermere), but the clubhouse facilities are the finest of any inland club in the country following recent improvements costing £1.5m. A map can be downloaded from www.rutlandsc.co.uk and it is truly worth a visit.

The cost of all this? Well, you need to have membership plus in the CSSC, or be a member of the now combined Revenue & Customs Sport & Leisure. Our introductory membership fee is £65, thereafter £130 p/a and in addition you are required to undertake 2 days membership duties at RSC.

If you fancy a trial sail or for further information about the club please contact Pete Shuttleworth, 01908 250359(w), 01908 671764(h), pete@shuttleworth06.freeserve.co.uk

East Coast Yacht Division

Shotley Marina, Harwich, Essex

Leisure sailing at its best!

Enjoy local sailing on our 38 foot off shore cruising boat, Freyja of Orwell. We offer one or two day introductory sails at reasonable prices and longer sea-time sails with experienced skippers cruising our home waters in and around the rivers Orwell, Stour. Deben and Blackwater. These cheap one or two day trips enable you to make up your mind whether sailing is for you or not without too much expense.

Further afield
There are opportunities for crewing on our sea-time trips as part of our three months summer cruise each year. We rotate the areas we sail in between the Netherlands, the Baltic, Ireland, Scotland, The Channel Islands, Normandy and Brittany.

Training
We also run RYA practical courses, Introduction to sailing, Competent Crew, Day Skipper, Coastal Skipper and the chance to use the boat for the Coastal Skipper and Yachtmaster assessment. Taking you from novice to skipper.

For further information about ECYD please contact Jean Rehill, 01920 453578, jeanrehill@ecyd.fsnet.co.uk, or log on to our website www.ecyd.org.uk.

East Coast Yacht Division Newsletter January 08

Milton Keynes Civil Service Sailing Club

Haversham Sailing Club, Haversham, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

The club was formed about 20 years ago by employees of BT and until recently sailed out of Willen Lake. As membership grew the location was changed to Haversham Sailing Club (http://homepages.rya-online.net/hsc123/) where we now have a range of 7 dinghies to suit both beginners and experienced sailors. Boats are available all year round, seven days a week and there is the choice of sailing a GP14, Enterprise, Wayfarer, Laser, Gull, Topaz Uno or a Blaze.

Most of our members joined as complete beginners and the whole approach of the club is to provide an introduction into the many aspects of sailing. This starts with general sailing and you are very welcome to come along and crew, enjoying the lovely surroundings of Haversham lake. For safety reasons you must reach a level of competence equivalent to RYA Basic Skills before you can take a boat out by yourself. This is achieved by attending a course run over a series of weekends, backed up by theory sessions and on the water practice. It usually takes about 40 hours to achieve this standard. From here you can then enjoy general sailing, take out the family or do a bit of racing!

Keeping with the theme of new experiences, we often travel offshore for a mixture of day cruising in small keelboats, racing on the Solent, single day taster sails on the Civil Service yachts based on the South and East coasts, or special high performance weekends. Once the bug bites its hard to stop! A typical week from May to October will see the following:

Wednesday night from 6.00pm - Friendly racing. Usually about 30 boats take part.
Thursday night from 6.00pm - Basic Skills tuition. Use this as an introduction to the course.
Saturday afternoon from 1.00pm - general sailing
Sunday morning from 10.00am - competitive racing with three races in the day. Usually about 30 boats take part in the first two races, reducing to around 15 for the final race.

During the winter you are free to sail at any time and there is also the Sunday racing, but with slightly less boats.

Because we are corporate members to Haversham Sailing club, we have access to all their facilities - including the bar, and enjoy free power boat training along with discounted sailing related courses, first aid etc. As Civil Servants we are very fortunate to have the backing of CSSC Sports & Leisure, who` local association at Milton Keynes help out enormously. We are in fact the largest Area Association dinghy club in the country.

The cost for all this? Well, you have to have membership plus in the CSSC and membership is £65 per year. At least 1 days duty is required to be undertaken at Haversham Sailing Club.

For further information about the club please contact Pete Shuttleworth, 01908 250359(w), 01908 671764(h), pete@shuttleworth06.freeserve.co.uk.

Fishers Green Sailing Club

Lee Valley Regional Park, Waltham Abbey, Essex

Fishers Green Sailing Club (FGSC)
Lee Valley Regional Park, Stubbins Lane, Waltham Abbey, Essex, EN9 2EG

Enjoy dinghy sailing and windsurfing on a 180-acre lake in a beautiful National Park setting. All levels of sailor are welcome, whether you are a novice or a keen racer, and CSSC / Civil Service Sailing Association (CSSA) Family Membership is available. The Club has boats available for hire to members, including Wayfarers, Toppers, Laser and Oppis. There is also a very active Cadet Squadron introducing dinghy racing to youngsters from 6 to 17 years old.

For further information about FGSC please contact Alan Francis, 01992 410380, secretary@fishersgreensc.org.uk or log on to http://www.fishersgreensc.org.uk. Rutland Civil Service Sailing Club
Rutland Reservoir (East of Leicester), Rutland

Most of our members join as complete beginners and the whole approach of the club is to provide an introduction into the many aspects of sailing. This starts with general sailing and you are very welcome to come along and crew, enjoying the lovely surroundings of Rutland Reservoir. For safety reasons you must reach a level of competence equivalent to RYA Basic Skills (keelboat) before you can take a boat out by yourself. This is achieved by building upon the initial experience of crewing, then helming under supervision until finally attending a 2 day course which brings all the practical and theory together. For those that have sailed in the past, you may helm a boat if you have Basic Skills (dinghy - the old RYA level 2), or Day Skipper. Once qualified you can then enjoy general sailing, take out the family or do a bit of racing!